Expanding the Reach of Our NACE Membership

I have always been proud to be an active NACE member, volunteering my time and efforts for the betterment of our profession and the chance to connect with colleagues across the country and the world. In the past, from a financial standpoint, it has been challenging to share this membership with my team. I have wanted my staff to feel like a part of our profession on a grander scale and to benefit from such a robust wealth of resources, information, and support as much I have throughout the years.

Until this year, I was a member under our institutional membership status, and one staff member also had an e-membership. Now, under the new tiered membership system, our member fees increase by only about 50 percent, but this allows FIVE professionals in my office to have full membership instead of TWO! As soon as I saw the NACE e-mail promotion of this new system, I called NACE to adjust our 2013 membership status, so my team could reap the same rewards from NACE that I have enjoyed for so many years.

The Spotlight online newsletter and extensive survey reports issued by NACE will be shared across our two campuses and members of our team much more easily. NACE website information, Principles, white papers, best practices, and networking will be easily accessible by members of my team when they choose to research and explore for their own professional development and the improvement of our office. Member rates for conferences and webinars will also extend to more team members, making the case for their attendance and involvement an easier one to make to upper administration.

There are clear gains in sight for our future with this new model of membership. My team will be better informed and more involved with a greater sense of commitment to our field and our professional organization. I have always tried to emphasize a team approach to effectively functioning as a college career center. In spirit, our staff structure is as flat as we can possibly make it. I believe NACE has taken a great step forward in making this more feasible than ever before. Thank you, NACE!